God loves, we believe, the end.
"God loves..."
Recently I attended a funeral for my aunt. Her favorite Bible verse was John 3:16 so the Pastor chose that verse for his sermon. The Pastor (not LCMS) said that this verse could be summarized by "Page 1 - God loves. Page 2 - we believe. Page 3 - The end."
But isn't there more than that? God loved the world, you and me, so He sent Jesus into our world. Why did He need to do that? Even though he loves us, we are not worthy of that love. In Psalm 53:3 (NIV) David wrote "Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." Again, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray each of us has turned to his own way." (Isaiah 53:6 NIV) and in Romans 3:23 (NIV) "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
God is not only a God of love but also a God of righteousness. He has declared in Jeremiah 14:10 (NIV) "This is what the Lord says about this people: 'They greatly love to wander, they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.'" We enjoy our sins and "the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23 NIV)
Can we overcome our sins by the good things we do? Can we win back God's favor? "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and like the wind our sins sweep us away." (Isaiah 64:6 NIV) Is there anyone else to intervene for us? "[God] saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him." (Isaiah 59:16 NIV)
"God loved the world so that he gave his only begotten son" to die for us. "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5 NIV) I Peter 2:24 (NIV) says "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree."
"We believe..."
What do we believe? Our righteousness will earn us salvation? Or other religions such as Islam? Or do we believe that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst." (I Timothy 1:15 NIV)
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24 NIV) Paul wrote in Romans 10:9 (NIV) "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
"The end."
Is this the end? No, God has promised us eternal life. Eternal means never ending. But while we are in this world, we do not sit around awaiting Jesus' second coming. Ephesians 2:8-9 assures that we are saved through faith, not works; however, Ephesians 2:10 NIV) says "we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." When we do these good works, Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:40 (NIV) "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
John 3:16 has been called "The Gospel in a Nutshell." It does tell us the basics of the gospel; however, we need to remember the whole story. We need to recall all of what Scripture says about our need for a Savior: how God's own son became that Savior when He died for our sins; how we need to believe in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit; and how God has given us work to do while we are on this earth.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Mary Kuhnau, Christian Life Chairman
LWML MN North District
christianlife@lwmlmnn.org
